1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic telephone answering apparatus which is arranged to automatically answer a call in the absence of its receiver, send out a message to a caller and, at the same time, memorize a message from the caller.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such an automatic telephone answering apparatus has been a recent trend that is adapted to record a message from a caller on a recording tape after having sent out a response message recorded on an answering tape to the caller. It is disadvantageous, however, that the more complicated the structure of the apparatus of the type referred to above which employs a magnetic tape such as the recording tape or the answering tape becomes, the larger the apparatus is in size. For solving the above-described disadvantage, there is disclosed an automatic telephone answering apparatus utilizing semiconductor memories in order to answer and record the message, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication (unexamined) No. 60-21660 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,110.
The automatic telephone answering apparatus disclosed in the above Laid-Open Publication No. 60-21660 is provided with a plurality of message memory circuits, such that each call is arranged to be recorded in each message memory circuit every time the call is received. However, since the memory circuit is costly, it cannot be actually provided by a large number. Nevertheless, even when the message memory circuit is brought into the condition for recording a message from the caller after the caller hears the recorded outgoing message, but, without any message transmitted thereto after all, the message memory circuit which is in the recording condition is dealt with as if it were recorded. Therefore, when a next call is received, another message memory circuit is operated. Thus, in the prior art, the message memory circuits cannot be used to the utmost of their usefulness, resulting in decrease of the number of the messages which can be stored in the memory circuits.